Reyna opened her eyes to find herself in a cage. She saw the ruined pool that had been in her earlier dream through the bars. Tree roots and stone seemed to make up the cage. A woman sat next to her.
"Juno," Reyna instantly assumed. She knelt in front of the goddess. Her mind was racing, but she needed to focus. `"May I ask how you were captured?"
"I heard a voice," Juno answered. A shroud covered her face. "It whispered for me to come here, and I did. That's how I was captured."
"Like in the first war," Reyna muttered. She gasped as pain spiked in her forehead. "The one with the giants?"
"You are starting to remember," Juno commented. "Memories of war are strong with you. Just like your mother."
"And, who is that?" Reyna questioned. "I know she is the key. I need to know who she is."
"That is why you cannot know," Juno replied. Reyna looked down and stood. "You are a warrior and a leader. Remember that. Now, we must speak of our enemy."
"Jupiter thinks that hiding in Olympus will save us. He thinks we have become too involved in the lives of mortals," Juno explained. "It won't help us. The one that the giants serve is waking from her slumber."
Reyna heard a howl. She quickly turned around. There was shapes outside the cage. Another pack. This one was more vicious though.
"Who are they?" Reyna questioned.
"My keepers," Juno answered. "Soon, you will wake up, and I will not have the power to appear to you again."
"Then, you need to tell me why you took my memories," Reyna said. She looked back at Juno.
"United, we stand. Divided, we fall," Juno explained. "We had to come together. I chose you because we need the one that represents us the most to bridge the millennia of hatred. That is one of your duties."
"That doesn't answer my question," Reyna snapped. "What do you mean the one that represents us most?"
"One of your answers will come in Chicago, and you will not like it," Juno answered. "Hurry and free me."
Reyna felt herself wake up, but she didn't move. She kept her breathing calm and just listened. Her nerves relaxed as she heard Piper laugh. It sounded like Piper was right above her.
"Don't be a jerk," Piper said. She had one hand on Reyna's back, but it was protectively.
"That's not gratitude for someone who saved you," Leo commented. Piper huffed. "How's Reyna?"
"Awake," Reyna answered. She felt Piper jumped. Reyna looked up. Her head was laying in Piper's lap, but she didn't mind. "What happened? I remember crash landing but nothing after that."
"Leo saved us," Piper answered. "It was amazing."
Piper explained about how Leo had used the machines to kill the two Cyclopes. Then, she talked about how Leo had survived the fire. Leo chimed in to talk about the kid who spoke Latin and wore a purple shirt.
When they finished, Reyna stared at the sky angrily. She knew that one of the Cyclopes had given her the answer, but she didn't remember it.
"You had a pretty bad concussion," Piper said. Reyna sat up and rubbed her shoulder. After a moment, she popped it back into place. It took biting her tongue to keep from crying out. That was going to hurt for awhile.
"Who do you think that the kid was?" Leo questioned as he looked at Reyna. She didn't answer as she became lost in thought.
"I don't know," Reyna finally muttered. She rubbed her forehead. "Juno said I was suppose to bridge some kind of hatred. With how Aquilon acted, Juno had to have broken some kind of oath."
"Did she do it to stop potty face?" Leo questioned. "That woman showed up to me while I was checking on Festus. She wanted me to betray you two by just walking away."
Piper leaned against her. Reyna glanced at Leo and spoke, "It's a good thing you didn't. I owe you one."
"Nah," Leo said. "It's all in the job description. I save lives and cook amazing food. It's a gift. How come you aren't freaked out about how close to death you were?"
"I'm not scared of death," Reyna admitted. "When it happens, it happens."
"That's hardcore," Leo commented. He seemed to want to steer the topic away from his use of fire. "Death and I really aren't acquaintances, you know? It's gotta talk to me first before it takes me out."
Reyna rolled her eyes. She looked down at Piper and smiled slightly. Piper was mumbling something. Reyna spoke, "Why are you asking about Enceladus?"
"What?" Piper questioned. She stared up at Reyna. There seemed to be guilt in her voice. "Well, he was one of the giants."
"Potty face also mentioned Porphupine," Leo added as he looked at them.
"Do you mean Porphyrion?" Piper questioned. "He's the one who kidnapped Hera during the first war with the giants. God and Heroes had to work together to kill them."
"So, the gods are ignoring us. Does that mean the silent treatment is becoming the death treatment?" Leo wondered.
"It means we have a fight on our hands," Reyna muttered. She closed her eyes as her head started to hurt. The pain also extended to her shoulder.
"You look tired," Piper whispered.
"Head and shoulder hurt," Reyna admitted. Piper pulled away and gently grabbed Reyna's uninjured shoulder. She laid Reyna down.
"Get some sleep," Piper ordered. Reyna closed her eyes reluctantly. She didn't realize she had fallen asleep until someone was shaking her shoulder.
Reyna rubbed her eyes and sat up. She felt much better. Reyna looked around at the skyline of what she assumed was Chicago. Her eyes darted around.
"There," Reyna said. She pointed towards the smoky figure of a horse. "Shall we follow that?"
"We shall," Leo answered. Festus seemed to understand. He took off after the ventus. As he tried to get closer, his wing clipped a building.
"Go above the buildings," Piper ordered. Leo muttered something under his breath but did. They did their best to follow the ventus, but there was a few times when Reyna thought they had lost it.
"There's another one," Piper said pointing. Reyna saw a ventus turn the corner and join the other one. They both hurried along in a chaotic mess of shapes.
"That's a lot of evil winds," Leo said as Festus started to circle above a art installation. Reyna stared at the dozen of spirits below them. She looked at the art installation. It reminded her of the ruined pool that was in her dreams.
Reyna stared at the screen. A woman's face suddenly appeared. Her eyes were closed. She felt Piper grab her shoulder tightly.
"So not cool," Leo whispered. Reyna watched the venti circle down into a drain that was in a fountain. "Did they just go down that drain?"
"Kind of like my life," Reyna muttered. Leo smiled at her.
"I knew you could joke," Leo said. "To the park we go?"
Reyna nodded. She watched Festus land by an open area beneath the lake. Reyna jumped off of the dragon and looked around. She jumped as Festus shot fire in the air and stomped his feet.
"Why is your dragon throwing a temper tantrum?" Reyna asked. She looked at Leo and crossed her arms. Leo muttered something about a whistle, frowned, and asked about a safety whistle. He dug around his tool belt as he spoke.
Leo pulled out a whistle and blew it. He looked at Festus and spoke, "If you hear this, you come immediately. For now, you can fly around. No human barbeques though."
Festus snorted and took off. He was probably going to have a human barbeque. Reyna heard Piper gasp in pain. She quickly turned.
"Your ankle," Reyna realized. Piper nodded slightly. "Let me help you."
"I'm fine," Piper said. She was definitely lying. Reyna gently grabbed Piper's arm and helped her walk. They made their way towards the fountain. It was called Crown Fountain.
"I'm pretty sure I saw a horror movie like this once," Leo commented.
"Doesn't the smart alec usually die first?" Reyna wondered. Leo looked at her and glared. She smirked and stepped towards the drain. One person at a time could fit in. She looked at the ladder and slowly climbed down.
There wasn't much water on the floor, and it didn't smell bad. She looked around the brickwork tunnel as her companions climbed down. Piper looked around, and her nose crinkled.
"Do all sewers smell this bad?" Piper wondered.
"No," Reyna and Leo answered at the same time. Leo glanced at her in surprise.
"How do you two know that?" Piper asked.
"I've ran away six times," Leo explained. "You have to sleep where you have to sleep."
Reyna stared at the sewer ground. She bit her lip as she thought. Reyna spoke, "Once. I was alone. I was going somewhere."
Reyna felt pain in her head. She collapsed to her hands and knees. Her eyes closed tightly. A clear memory ran through her head.
She remembered sitting against a sewer wall. There was terrible pain in her side, and a dagger in her right hand. Reyna was muttering that she didn't need anyone's help.
Her eyes opened as the memory ended. Reyna looked up at Leo who was kneeling next to her. He helped her stand.
"What happened?" Piper asked. She grabbed Reyna's arm tightly. It was clear that Piper was having a hard time putting pressure on her ankle.
"Memory," Reyna responded. She told them about it and shivered as she remembered the pain. Reyna didn't know what had caused it though. "Let's go. We're wasting time."
"Maybe, we should rest," Leo suggested. "Piper's ankle is still bothering her. I'm sure your concussion isn't completely cleared up. I'll make some food, and we can all rest for a few hours."
Reyna wanted to argue that they needed to keep moving. She finally looked at Piper and nodded. They all sat against the wall.
Reyna stared at the ceiling. She was trying to piece together the few memories that she had, but it wasn't really helping. There was too many gaps to fill.
For a moment, Reyna wanted to ask Piper why she thought the crash landing was her fault. Piper had been asleep. It was possible that the woman in the earth was trying to scare her and divide them. It wasn't gong to work though.
"There was something else from the factory," Piper said. She leaned on Reyna tiredly. "Ma Gasket acted like she recognized you and thought that you had a wiped out her clan. Then, she looked for a belt and said that she couldn't find one. Does that ring any bells?"
"No," Reyna admitted. She sighed tiredly. "Are there any belts from Greek mythology?"
Piper seemed to think. She finally spoke, "There was a belt in one of Heracles' labors. He had to get a belt that belonged to the queen of the Amazons."
"Amazons," Reyna repeated. That word meant something. She knew it. Why did it seem so familiar?
"I have tacos," Leo announced. Reyna jumped and looked at him in surprise. "And, I remembered you Piper. It's made out of tofu."
Reyna barely ate any of the food. It was good, but she didn't have much of an appetite. Leo tried to lighten the mood by making jokes. It did nothing to help Reyna.
After they finished eating, Piper curled up near Reyna and fell asleep. Leo watched them closely.
"You look like you want to talk," Reyna commented.
"How doesn't this bother you?" Leo wondered. "We're not trained for this. We shouldn't be rescuing goddess, yet, you're taking it without blinking."
"It doesn't bother me," Reyna admitted. "I know we have a job to do, so I focus on that."
"You're crazy," Leo decided. "I thought I was the weird one."
"Being able to produce fire isn't weird," Reyna promised. Leo shook his head. "Hey, you can do it with magic."
Reyna frowned. How did she know that? Leo spoke, "The other Hephaestus kids told me that fire was bad. It's a sign of bad things."
"Maybe, it's how you fight those bad things," Reyna said. Leo shook his head sadly. "Is that how your mom died?"
Leo fell silent and stared at the ground. He seemed lost in thought. Reyna grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it.
"I don't know what happened, but it's not your fault. That woman was targeting you because she wanted to take you out. You're a high value target," Reyna said.
"I'm going to make or break this prophecy," Leo muttered. "That's what she told me. I don't want to be the one that ends the world."
"Then be the one that saves it," Reyna said quietly.
"Easy for you to say," Leo grumbled. Before Reyna could ask what he meant, Leo turned on side. It clearly marked the end of their conversation. "Cool if I get sleep?"
"Go ahead," Reyna answered. She looked down at her jacket and sighed. Her attention focused ahead as she kept watch. Reyna sighed and waited silently as her friends slept.